Well flowing means



Jun 12, 1945. R. G. TAYLOR, JR., ET AL v 2,377,981

WELL FLOWING MEANS r libri INV EN 1 OR.

2 Shee'cs-SheeI -2 /sA myd/va 6. Ima/e Je. BY [a6/m WELL FLOWING MEANSFiled DGO. 6, 1941 G. TAYLOR, JR., ET AL June 12,` 1945.'

Patented June 12v, '1945 .t t Y l UNITED lSTATES PATENT OFFICE' WELLFLoWING MEANS Raymond GQ Taylor, Jr., and Edgar D. Wilde,

Dallas, Tex., assignors to The Gniberson Corporation, Dallas, Tex., acorporation of Delaware Application December 6; 1941, Serial N0.y421,890

8 Claims. (Cl. 103-231) This invention relates to improvements in apthatit was necessary to lowera weightbarfto the paratus for and method ofowing wells. first valve and unload progressively down from Various gaslift methods have heretofore Ibeen the top to the bottom. This wouldtake much proposed to cause the oil to flow from a' well. time whichmight run into hours and it further Various methods and apparatusadapted to perrequires much manipulation lby the operator to form themethods have been proposed to unload `definitely locate precisely whereeach valve is lothe well. This invention relates to a very simple cated.In our invention the weight =bar to opermeans of accomplishing both ofthe above results. ate the wire line valves operates only the lowest Itis well known that initially the oil will flow valve andv'the well isunloaded automatically fromV from a well but as the pressure in theproducing 10 the Statie Uid level OWII t0 the Wire lihe Valve sandsdecreases, the well will cease to flow and through 4the stage valveslocated nbOVe it and itis then necessary to resort to some means torewhich stage valves are not Wire line Operatedr cover the oil whichwill rise to a certain height in The circulation of preSSllre fluid iSthen reversed the we11. Many methods for pumping this on or so that thepressure huid would new downwardly aerating it have heretofore beensuggested but through the Casing `and upwardly through the diilicultyhas generally been encountered in untubing when the weight bar opens thewire line loading the Well when aeration apparatus is emvalve near thebottom of the well. 'I-'his is the Dloyed. One of the objects of thisinvention is to DrOeedllre Which would be f0110Wed When We desireovercome the said dillculties. to intermit through the tubing and inthis case In the preferred embodiment of our structure the Well iSlirllOaded 'through the easng- 0f the tubing carrying the aerationapparatus is Course. if We desire t0 lrltermit through the CaS- loweredin the well. The oil is standing in the ing the well would he unloadedthrough the tubwell at a height possibly 900 ft. from the surface ing-We prefer t0 ntermt threugh the tubing and yet the well may be severalthousand feet and believe that this practice Will generally be deep. Wepropose to force compressed air or followed, but case an operatordesired to ingas through the. tubing and to provide at given termitthroughthe casing, it is quite obvious that` Vpoints in the tubingaeration valves so that the the reverse procedure would be used fromthat compressed air can ilow from the ytubing intothe employed whenintermitting through the tubliquid in the casing and eject the same andlafter ing but [both ideas are comprehended within this the on has beenejected from the easing through invention. In either case, we haveprovided a verythe successive aeration valves the pressure fluidsimplified and quick methodof putting a well on may be cut oi from thetubing and introduced production.

into the casing. We propose to employ a valve Another dbject of thisinvention is to provide near the [bottom of the tubing, which .valve canstructure and a method of using the same wherebe operated by a wire lineand which valve when 25 by excessively high pressures will not berequired. open will afford the sole means for the introduc-4 Compressedeil' Pressure 0f 300 PellndS Per tion of the compressed air from thecasing into square inch is readily available and withV such the tubing,the mst-mentioned aeration valves pressure we find that we can quieklyunload 0. performing no function in\this latter operation. well eventhough the well may extend for thou- When the compressed air isintroduced into the sands of feet below thetstatic fluid level.

tubing it raises the oil therein to the surface. We propose a means forunloading the well by This wire line valve may be operated atinterforcing/the oil from the tubing into the casing vals found to bemost suitable to each wells in stages and then removing the oil in thecascharactexjistics to lift fluid in the tubing tothe ing to the surfacein stages,` or if We inter-mit surface. The means for operating the wireline through the casing, this process is reversed. In

' maybe any suitable means, such as pressure fluid, this we use a moreor less automatic system of electrical or' mechanical means' or even.manual using one or a series oifkick-ofi' valves for uncontrol, or itmay be arranged to b'e operated inloading purposesl and one wire line.operated valve termittently by clock mechanism or any suitable forintermittlng purposes, the wire line valve betiming apparatus. v A 50ngplaced below the kick-off valves andl near the One of the advantagesof this invention over` n bottom of the well.

`other surface control gas lift systems lies in the At the extremebottom' of the well we propose to' lfacility with which a well may iceunloaded. In use'a check valve to prevent the oil fromilowing one 4typeof apparatus heretofore suggested a downwardly from the tubing into theprndu;` series of wire line valves have been operated so ing formation.Sometimes such a valve becomes clogged with sand or other deposits. Inour lmproved structure we provide a means ,whereby this check valve maybe cleaned and kept free from below Fig. l, Fig.l 2 being considered asa continuation of the lower portion of Fig. l;

^ Fig. 3 is a transverse view. partly in cross-section and partly inelevation, of. an equipment somewhat similar to what is shown in Fig. 2but constituting a modiiication, in part, of the equipment shown in Fis.2;

Fig. .4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a check valve of a kindshown in Fig. 1, the movable part of the valve being shown in elevation:

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a modication of the wireline valve shown in Fig. 2, certain of the parts being shown in sideelevation;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a por' tion of the equipmentshown in Fig. 3,-oertain of the parts being shown in side elevation.

LIn the drawings in which similar reference characters are usedthroughout to designate similar parts, a pipe I is connected to asuitable pump or compressed air chamber and serves as a means tointroduce the compressed air into the tubing Aor the casing as the casemay be. A T-coupling 2v is connected to the pipe I and connected to'thisT-coupling are short pipes 9 and 4. 'I'he pipe 4 is connected to thetubing 5 and is provided with l a valve'fl't. Pipe lis connected to theAcasing 9 and is provided with a valve 1. An exit pipe^9 is connected tothel tubing l and is provided with a valve I0 An exit pipe II isconnected to the casingil and is provided with a valve I2. Both of thepipes 9 and II are connected to an exit pipe I9 by means of a T-couplingI4. It is obvious that pressure iiuid may be introduced into the casingthrough the pipes I and 3 it the valve 'I is opened and the valve l isclosed and the compressed an may be introduced into the tubing if thevalve 9 is opened and the valve 1 is closed. It is likewise obvious thatif the valveA Il is opened the contents of the. tubing may be .evacuatedthrough the pipe 9 and likewise it the 'valve I2 is opened the contentsof the casing may be evacu ated through the pipe I I.

The tubing i is provided with a series of check valves I 5. 'I'hesecheck valves are placed suitable distances apart as will be hereinaftermore fully,

- connection I9 which is screw threaded to a valve chamber I9 which isProvided with holes 2l near Lits lower end... -The valve 2| is providedat its lower end with a conical valve portion 22 which seats on thevalve seatlformed at the upper end tion of the tubular connection I8 isaplug 23 which is provided with an orice 24. This orifice plug 23 is tolimit the amount of pressure fluid that can pass out to the holes 20.The size of the oriiice is determined so as to be of such size tosufciently aerate and lift the iiuid in the casing without undulywasting the gas. Where a series of these valves are employed, the size.oi.' the oriiice may vary,thesmallest oriiice being at the top andprogressively increasing in size in the valves below the same. The topof the valve chamber I9 is closed with a top cap 25 which is providedwith a T-shaped vent hole 28 so as to prevent the trapping of the gasesabove the valve 2I.

While we have suggested the use of a. series of such check valves forwells in,which it would be desirable to unload for a great distance, itis obvious that in shallow wells only one such check valve may berequired and in very shallow wells it is possible that no check valvesat all ywould be required. A lug 21 is vprovided above each of thevalves to protect it to prevent the valve from being v"knocked oil.'when the tubing is pulled from the well.

Near the bottom of the well We provide a packer 29 to seal the spacebetween the tubing and the casing.l A short distance above this packerwe provide a wire line operated valve 29. As shown in Fig. 2, aconnection I0 is secured to the outside oi' the tubing and has securedtherevtothe valve 29. A slot 3l is provided extending through the lowerportion oi' the connection 90 and the tubing and a fulcrum pin 32 iscarried. by the connection-99 and extends laterally across the saidslot. On this iulcrum 'pin is mounted a bell crank lever 33 having a camportion 34 projecting intovthe tubing where it may be engaged v orelectrical means or maybe operated by hand or a clock mechanism. Thebell crank lever Il is provided with an arm 99 in the connection'l whichunderlies a push rod 99 which raises the valve member in the valve 29 sothat compressed` In Fig. 5 substantially the'samel arranger-nentis shownas described in connection with Fig. 2.

The bell crank lever 9 9 is provided at its lower end with a nose 42which` engages a stop 43 on the tubing, thereby' limting.' the unward'movement oi'the 'bell crank lever as it is urged into the tubing by thespring 44I. The connection 39 is screw threaded at its upper end andreceives a connection 44 which is screw threaded to the valve housing45. As a matter of fact, the connection 44 and the valve housing 49 aremade in two parts simply for simpliiication of construction and they infact form a valve housing. The

member 44 is provided with a ,valve seat 49 which of the tubular connecon Il. In the lower poris encased by a valv 41. The upper end of the...ai fr contact with the nose of the cam valve 41 is provided with anenlargement 48 and a spring 49. is interposed between the cap 50 and theenlargement 48, the spring serving as a means to urge the valve againstits valve seat. The

connection 44 is provided with the holes 40 which 'lead into aV chamber5I within the connection 44. This chamber is in communication with apassageway 52 when the valve is raised from its l valve seat and thepassageway communicates with a passageway', 53 leading into the tubingand extending through the connection 30. The valve is raised off itsvalve seat by means ofa push' rod 54 connected to a screw threadedtappet" 55 and a lock nut 56 may-be used to adjust the push rod 54 forheight. ,y It is', therefore, obvious that when the weight-35 is liftedso as to engage the nose of the cam portion 34 oi. the lever, the valve41 will be raised oil of the valve seat 46 and-compressed gas could passfrom the casing into the tubing or vice-versa depending upon thedifferential of the pressures in the tubing and in the casing.

In Figs. 3 and 6 we have shown a modiiica- V tion of the structure usedin connection with the wire line operated valve. In these views the wireline valve is operated precisely as heretofore described.. Theconnection 44', instead oi?r having a passageway leading downwardly andcommunieating with the interior of theA tubing, is provided withaclosure 51 through which extends a bleeder hole 58. It is also providedwith holes 59 which communicate with a passageway 60 in a. sleeve 6I andwhich .passageway communicates with a passageway in a tube Ii2v whichextends into a packer head 63 which extends through and forms an airtight engagement with a packer 28. This packer performs the samefunction as the tubing through the passageway I1 of the upper valve I5,raising the valve 2| and this oil would pass out through the holes intothe casing, thereby raising the level of the oil in the casing anddepressing thelevel of the oil in the tubing.` This differential inthese levels could not exceed 900 feet with a 300 pound pressure. As avmatter of fact, if we depressed the oil in the tubing for 805 feet, Wewould raise the oil in the casing 95 feet which would give us the max-Jimum possible differential in levels.. If, therefore, we placed theupper valve I5 at 1,600 feet below the surface ofthe ground or 600 feetbelever 33 against the 'tension ofthe spring 4I so as to elevate thepush. rod 39, the valve 41 is raised and compressed air can pass throughthe holes 40,` downwardly through the-connection 44',

through the holes 59 into the passageway 60 and thence downwardlythrough the tube 62 into the chamber 61, and upwardly through the bottomof the tubing 5. It will be notedthat the compressed air is, therefore,forced almost to the extreme bot-tom of the well andthat the rush offluid and gas by the standing valve l68 effectively cleans the same ofsand or scale particles and removes any accumulated debris that mighttend' toL causethe standing valve to become stuck in either its open or`closed position. .In order to make the operationA clear, we will assumefor the purpose of illustration that the well is 4,500 feet deep butthat the static iluid low the static iluld level. this valve would notonly cause all the oil above it to be passed from the tubing into thecasing, but after it had done this the compressed air would exert apressure of about 66 pounds per square inch at the passageway I1 andtherefore the compressed air in the tubing would pass into the casing,elevating, all of the oil above the topmost valve to the surface Whereit would pass out through the valve I2 and pipe II into the outlet pipeI3. If we placed the next valve 700 feet below the topmost valve thecompressed air in the tubing would then .repeat the above-mentionedoperation and expel all of the oil between the topmost valve and thevalve '100 feet lbelow it out through the second valve and would thenblow out the oil thus ejected into the casing lso that it likewise wouldpass out through the exit pipe I3. We would suggest that in the abovecited illustration thatV the'valvesshould be placed approximately '100feet apart so as to give ample pressure to elevate the oil in thecasing. The r100 feet suggested is purely an arbitrary figure. It wouldnot be well to place the valves the entire 900 feet apart for while thecompressed air at 300 pounds pressure would expel the oil in the tub-`ing into the casing, there would be. no pressure remaining to aerate theoil, thatfis, the air passf ing through the passageway I1 after the oilwas thus forced into the casing would not have any pressure behind itand we would not, therefore, wish to place the valves a full 900 feetapart. Of course, in the above remark in regard to placing them 900 feetapart, the oil in the casing would be more than 900 feetl above the oilin the tubing when the oil betweentwo successive valves had beencompletely displaced from the tubing into the casing were it not for thefactthat' all oil above the'next highest valve would be expelled by thehigher valve. We think that a differential pressure of about 66 poundsper square inch between the tubing and the casing exerted through thepassageway I1 would be a safe figure touse to cause initial movement ofarea of the tubing and of the casing is l to 8 and the gas pressureavailable is -300 pounds. It is the oil in the casing. If desirable,however, the valves may be placedclosed tgether than 700 feet so as tohave a greater pressure for lifting purposes. Under any condition,yhowever, we would use the requisite number of` valves such as the valvesI5 and space them a suitable distance apart to force the oil in thetubing from the tubing into thecasing and then to lift the oil in thecasing to the surface. 'I'he number of valves that might be used will-dependupon the depth of the well, what was its static iluid levelandhow far apart we spaced the valves. In the illustration used above.when we considered that the well was 4500 feet deep and where the staticnuid level was at 1,000 feet from the surface, and if the valves areplaced '700 feet apart, we would. place the topmost valve at 1,600 feet,the next valve at' 2,390 feet, the third' valve at 3,000 feet and thefourth valve at 3,700 feet. The fifth valve would be placed at about4,300 feet below the surface and this ilfth valve would be the wire lineoperated `valve. The weight Il would bev raised and the oil would-movethrough the passageway 53 upwardly by the valve 41 and .out through theholeslll so that this valve in this case would serve the same functionas the valve I5. The spacing of' the valves as given in the foregoingexplanation is based on a compressed air pressure of 300 lb./sq. inch.It is obvious that other pressures may beused and the spec# ing of thevalves as heretofore described will var! directly as the pressure. Thehigher the pres- 20 sure, the wider will be the spacing that may beused, and vice versa. It is not intended to imply that the pressures andspacing oi' the valves as given herein must necessarily be followed inall cases, but are merely given as an example. By g5 the abovedescribed'method and with the use of the above described apparatus weare, therefore, l able to quickly and virtually automatically unload thewell. In other words, with the weight bar set so as w open the wire linevalve and by 30 operating the above-mentioned connections above thesurface of the ground, the well is unloaded automatically from thestatic duid level to the lowermost valve.

After unloading the well, would be closed and the valves 1 and i0 wouldbe openedv sb that'the compressed air from the inlet pipe .i would passinto the casing where it would be trapped until such time as the weight35 was raised so as to open the wire line valve 4o 29. The compressedair would not pass through the valves I5 into the tubing for the valvemember 2| would prevent this. The oil would build up in the tubing untilthe'wire line was raised so as to open the wire line valve 2l and then45 the compressed air would D585 into the tubing from the casing'through the hole llkan'd would lift the oil in the tubing to thesurface. As above mentioned, the wire line maybe operated by a,A

timing mechanism so as to'remove the oil in 50- the tubing after agiven.` interval of time, or it may be manually operated. Whenever theweight is lifted, however, the compressed air in the easing passesthrough the wire line valve into A'the tubing and lifts the oil in thetubing to the sur- 55 face where it passes out through the pipe I andthe exit pipe il.

The structure shown in Figs. 3 and 6 might advantageously be used whereit isdesired to remove all the oil in the tubing from the vex- 30 tremebottom of the tubing and 'where it is desired to clean the standingvalve, Il. In this case the compressed air in the casing would passthrough the holes Il when the weight 3l had caused the rod 39 to b'elifted so as to move the e5 valve 41 from its seat and will thn passdownwardly through the tube I2 into the chamber 51 where it would passinto the extreme bottom of the tubing, cleaning the standing valve andlifting all of the oil in the tubing in the4 surface. I0A This, ofcourse, would occur only whenthe weight 35 was lifted -forotherwiseuncompressed air would pass from the casing. into the tubing. Any gasthat might become trapped in the chamber Il could, after the valve isclosed, escape up 'Il the valves l and i2 ss through the tube l02 andsleeve Il and could escape through the bleeder hole 5l.

While in Figs. 5 and 6 we have shown springs above the valves and havenot shown a ,spring above the valve in Fig. 4, we desire it to beunderstood that afspring can be used to depress any of these valves, orthey can be permitted to fall by gravity as the particular manufactureror operator may desire.

While we have decsribed our invention by way of illustration, we realizethat many changes might be made in the specific form of the invention asshown in the drawings and herein described and Without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. We, therefore,'desire to claim thesamebroadly, except as we may expressly limit` ourselves in the appendedclaims.

Having now described our invention, we claim: l. In combination with ailow line and'acasing, a series 4of normally closed check valves on theiow line at successive ,elevations to preventb passage of compressed gasor foil from the casing into the ilow line while allowing compressed airor oil to flow therethrough from the iiow line to the casingI and a wireline valve on the ilow'line below the check valves and serving as ameans to intermit through the ilow line.

2. In a well having a ilow line and abcasing, a valvev which when openforms a passageway between the iiow line and casing and when closedprevents the passage lof oil or compressed gas from the casing into thenow line, a lever to operate said valve, a portion of said leverprojecting into the ilow line, a wire line, a weight on the wire lineand within the ow line to con-vI tactvthe part of the lever projectinginto the flow line when the weight is movedy by the wire line so as tooperate said lever and open said weight in the flow line which may beoperatedv to actuate said actuator and -rod and thereby open said valve.A

4. In a well having a now line, a valve mounted on the now line toprovide a passageway to and iro'mthe flow line,a 4lever projecting intothe now line, means operatively connecting said valve and lever andadapted to be moved intov or out of engagement with said valve, a weightin the ilow line which may be operated to actuate said leverand therebyopen said valve, a wire line to raise or lower said weight, and meanstocause said lever to be partly projected yinto the path of movement ofthe weight when the weight is removed from adjacent said lever.

5. In an oil well-having a now line, a valve on said flow line, apassageway extending into said now line and adapted to be opened .orclosed by said valve, 'a lever partly projecting into the now line,means operativelyconnecting said valve and lever and movable into or outof engagement with said valve, a wire line, a weight en said wire lineand adapted to actuate said lever. to

open. said valve when the wire line is operated to move weight intooperative contact with the lever and means tocause said lever tobepartly projectedv into the path of movement of the weight when theweight is removed from adjacent said lever.

6. In an oil well having a iiow line and a casing, a plurality ofnormally closed check valves at successive elevations on said now line,each of said check valves being closed at all times except when thepressure in the flow line e'xceeds/the .pressure in the casing at thepoint where any flow valve is positioned, said check valves being usedfor unloading through the casing and a `wire line operated valve belowthe check valves, said wire line operated valve being used forintermitting through the flow line.

7. In an oil well having a flow line and a casvlng, a conduit forcompressed gas, a pipe extending from the conduit to the casing andanother pipe extending from the conduit to the ow line, a valve in eachpipe so that by closing one may be introduced into the casing orvice-versa,

means whereby when the compressed gas isy introduced into the flow linethe well is automatically unloaded in stages and means whereby when thecompressed gas is introduced into the casing after unloading, the oil inthe ow line is intermittently evacuated. f

8.r In an oil well having a tubing and a casing, means to introducecompressed gas into the tubing, means to automatically unload in stepsvalve and opening the other the compressed gas

